The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-04-08

aal 1te-deep to deep, storm to storm.
darkness to darkness; but once in the
81, al is we'll.
s4Ae Lord shut hir, in.
There comes upon the good man sdeluge
of financial troubles He had his thou
sands to lend; now he can not borrow a
dollar. He once owned store in New
York, and had branch houses in Boston.
Philadelphia and New Orleans He owned
four horses. and employed q man to keep
the dust on his coach, phaeton, carriage
and carricle; now he hes hard work 70
get shoes In which to walk ne great
deep of commercial diss1ter wss broksn
up, and fore and aft. and across the hurri-
cane deck, the waves struck him. But he
was safely sheltered from the storm.
The Lord shut him N.
A food Of domesti troubles fell on him.
Sickness and bereavement came. The
rain pelted- The wini blew. This Heav-
ems are alame. All the gardens Of earth
ly delight are washed away. The fount-
aims Of joy are buried fiftesn cubits deep.
But, standing by the empty crib, and in
the desolated nursery, and In the doleful
hall, once airing with merry voices, now
silent forever, he cried:
The Lord gave. the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name OF the Lord
The Lord shut him in.
all the sins of lifetime clamored for
his overthrow. The broken vows. the dis
honest Sabbaths, the outrageous profani-
ties. the misdemeanors of twenty
years, reached up their hands to
the door OF the ark to pull him out.
The boundless ocean Of his sin sur
rounded his soul, bowling like q simeon,
raving like an euroclydon. But lookin g
out Of the window. he saw his sins sink
like lead into the sea. The dove of Heav-
en- brought an olive branch to the ark.
The wrath of the billow only pushed hi m
toward Heaven.
The Lord shut him in.
The same docr-fastenings that kept
Noah in keep the world out. I am glad to
know that when a man reaches Heaven all
earthly troubles are done with him. Here
he may have had it hard to get bread for
his family; there he will never hunger an y
more. Here he may have wept bitterly;
there
The lamb that Is in the midst Of the throne
will lead him to living fountains Of water, and
God will wipe away all tears from his eyes.
Here he may have hard work to get a
house; but in my fathers house are many
mansions and rent day never comes. Here
there are death-beds, and collins, and
graves; there no sickness, no weary atch-
ing, no choking cough, no consuming
fever. no chattering chill. no tolling bell.
no grave. The SORROWS Of life shall come
up and knock at the door, but no admit
lance. The perpIe kites of life shall come
up and knock on the door, but no admit
tance. Safe foreverl All the agony Of
earth in one wave dashing against the
bulwarks Of the ship Of celestial light
shall not break them down. Howl on, ye
winds, and rage, ye seas!
The Lord shut him in.
o, what . grand old doori 30 wide, so
easily swung both ways. and with such
sure fastenings. No burglars key can
pick that lock. No swarthy arm of hell
can shove back the bolt. rejoice that I
do not ask you to come aboard q crazy
craft with leaking hulk and broken helm,
and unfastened door; but an ark fifty
cubits wide, and three hundred cubits
long, and door so large that the round
earth, without grazing the posts, might
be bowled in.
Now, IL the ark Of Christ is so grand !
place In which to live. and die, and
triumph, come into the ark Know well
that the door that shut Noah in shut the
world out; and though, when the pitiless
storm came pelting on their heads, they
beat upon the door, saving. LET me in I
let me inr' the door did not open. For
one hundred and twenty years they were
invited. They expected to come in; but
the antediluvians said:
1--WE must cultivate these fields; we
must be worth more fiocks Of sheep and
herds Of cattle: we will wait until we get
q little older; we will enjoy our old farm
little longer
But meanwhile the storm was brewing
The fountains Of heaven were filing up.
The pry was being placed beneath the
foundations of the great deep. The last
year had come, the last month, the last
week, the last day, the last hour, the last
moment. In an awful dash, an ocean
dropped from the sky, and another rolled
up from beneath; and God rolled the
earth and sky into one wave Of universal
destruction.
So men now put OF going into the ark
They say they will wait twenty years
first. They will have a little longer time
with their worldly associates. They will
wait until they get older. They say:
"You can not expect a man of my at
tainments aud Of my position to surrend sr
myself just now. But before the storm
comes l will 90 in. Yes, will I know
what I am about Trust me-"
After awhile, one night about twelve
O'Clock, going home he passes a scaffold-
ing As gust OF wind strikes it, and q
plank falls. Dead and outside the ark |!
Or, riding in the park reckless vehicle
crashes into him, and his horse becomes
unmanayeable, and he shouts whoa,
whoa" and takes another twist IN the
reins. and plants his feet against the
dash board. and pulls back. But no use.
1t is not 50 much down the avenue that he
flies as on the way to eternity. Out Of the
wreck Of the crash his bo1y is
drawn, but his soul Is not
picked up. It hsd behin1 . swift
or courser into the great future. Dsad!
and outside the ark! Or, some night. he
wakes up with a distress that momentari-
ly increases, until he shire ks out with
pain. The doctors come in, and they give
him twenty drops, but no relief; forty
drops, hfty drops, sixty drops, but no re-
lief. No time for prayer. No time to read
ono Of the promises. No time to got
single sin pardoned The whole house is
aroused in alarm. Tia children scream
The wife faints. The pulses fall The
heart stopA The soul dies Oh! my
God dead! and outside the ark!
I have no doubs that derision kept many
people out Of the ark. The world laughed
to see man go in, and said:
Here IS . man starting for the ark.
Why, there will be no deluge. II there il
one, that miserable ship will not weather
1t. Aha! going into the srki We'll, that
is too good 20 keep. Here. fellows, have
you heard the news! This man Il going
into the ark"